Then there was two – After eight months of feeling lost, moments of begging for a little law and order, fierce rivalries and intense battles causing players to experience royal pains and even loss of blood, the sand or should we say the dust has finally settled. Why so serious you ask? Well 82 regular season games and a total of 12 wins a piece in the post season have given two teams; the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers the feeling of a prison break with victories throughout leading them to the possibility of a “life bending” phenomenon.

Thursday will mark the beginning of the 2010 NBA Finals and the most ingenious and criminal minds could not anticipate the heroic performances which would have allowed the Celtics and the Lakers to face off for the ultimate prize for the second time in two years. Notably, on this amazingly crafted journey both teams took different strokes to get to where they both are now though at the end of the day these paths will have minimal impact on who lifts the coveted trophy.

The Boston Celtics finished fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 50-32. Squaring up against the Miami Heat led by Dwayne “Flash” Wade; the Celtics made their ambitions clear as brilliant team performances helped them to quickly dismiss the Heat 4-1 with their biggest margin of victory being a 106-77 win in Boston. This led them to the conference semi-finals where standing in their path was the ‘King’ and his army.

After an early set back due to great performances by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics powered their way to an impressive 4-2 series win. Their biggest margin of victory in that series was a 120-88 win in Cleveland. Up next was the mighty Orlando Magic who were on a successful rampage brushing aside the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks in four games en route to the conference finals.

However, continuing in their fine form of making the basketball ‘supernaturals’ into mere mortals they rushed to an unprecedented 3-0 series lead, nullifying the influence of Dwight ‘Superman’ Howard. The Magic did manage to force a Game 6 but then the Celtics revealed their secret weapon Nate ‘Kryptonite’ Robinson (the player who dunked over Howard in last year’s dunk contest) and his early influence was enough to see them home in a 96-84 win.

The Los Angeles Lakers were comfortable victors of the regular season with a 57-25 record. The Lakers had a fairly easier path to the finals as impressive performances from other teams saw off some of their more competitive opponents. They faced the Oklahoma City Thunder and in what was arguably the most exciting series in the Western conference they managed to see off the exuberant likes of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in six games with a 111-87 win being their best performance.

The Utah Jazz were their next opponents and with Deron Williams in sync with his team-mates a close series was anticipated, however, this was not the case as the Lakers hammered them in four games capitalising on good fortune in Game Three where the Jazz failed to clinch it at the buzzer.

They wrapped up that series with a 111-96 win and just like that they were back to their third consecutive conference finals. Though not exactly a case of “next patient, same treatment” the Lakers continued in their fine form against the Phoenix Suns. An early 2-0 lead quickly vanished to 2-2 but a Ron Artest buzzer-beater in Game Five was the catalyst as they wrapped up the series 111-103 in Phoenix.

So here the NBA Finals is back and it will either be a case of “same old same old” for the Celtics or “two times the charm” for the Lakers. Anticipation is high; we all want to see something amazing happen.